Commenting on the statement made by the Secretary of State
on the recommendation from the
School Teachers’ Review Body that all pay and allowance ranges
for teachers and school leaders are uplifted by
2.75%, Ms Chris Keates General
Secretary (Acting) of NASUWT - The teachers’
union, said:
“Whilst an above inflation pay award of 2.75% is welcome, there
is still much more to be done by Government to close the
significant teachers’ pay gap which is making teaching
uncompetitive with other comparable graduate professions.
“The Secretary of State has once again undermined the
Review Body’s recommendation that this award should be
across all pay ranges and allowances, by choosing to specify that
this is an uplift on the maxima and minima of pay ranges.
“Most teachers are not on the maxima or minima of the pay ranges
and once again it appears that employers are being encouraged
actively by Government to usetheir discretion to deprive the
majority of teachers of any pay award at all.
“The Secretary of State has announced a teachers’ pay grant
will be made as a contribution towards payment of the award but
once again has failed to ring fence this, meaning there is no
guarantee that the funding will be used for teachers’ pay. Last
year there was widespread abuse of this grant by too many
schools, using it to fund anything but teachers’ pay.
“Once again, the Review Body has highlighted the deteriorating
state of teacher supply, pointing out that teacher retention
rates have continued to worsen, including now for experienced
teachers, the targets for new teacher recruitment were missed by
Government again last year, retention rates for headteachers have
fallen and there has been a steady decline in the teachers’ pay
framework, which is a significant contributor to teacher supply
difficulties.
“Despite this clear evidence of the deep and continuing problems,
the Secretary of State continues to pursue the same flawed
policies which have created the worst teacher recruitment and
retention crisis in this country since World War II.Teachers and
the children and young people they teach deserve better.
“Employers should be under no illusion that having received a
Teachers’ Pay Grant and given that there is £4.1 billion in
reserves across the school system, the NASUWT will challenge any
employer who seeks to deprive any teacher of the recommended pay
award.”
